Trophy Hunting
by SunniGummi
Summary: Driven by his new obsession, Emmett wants to collect bear heads as proof of his successful hunts. Unfortunately Esme isn't so thrilled about that and forbids him from bringing them home. But when she and Carlisle leave the house for a few days to spend their anniversary travelling around, Emmett goes on yet another bear hunt... Warning: Spanking of a vampire in later chapters!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everybody!**

**I felt like starting a new story... this chapter here had been lying around on my laptop for several months now (since last year maybe?) and I decided it was time to post it. I actually didn't want to work on more than one story at a time for a while, but *sigh* Whatever ;-)  
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**Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer! I just like to coax them into doing something stupid and when they are done causing trouble, I put them in a fancy box with a bow on top and send them back to their rightful owner.**

**Warning: I put the warning for this story in the description and would advise you guys to take it seriously. I don't give them because I'm bored or because I wish to annoy you, I do it for you so you won't need to waste your time on stories you won't like. While I still don't know in which chapter the warning will be important, I still wanted to let you know beforehand so you can judge for yourself if you really want to read it.**

**Okay, enough said. Have fun with the first chapter!**

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It was one of these beautiful, overcast summer days the whole family loved and Rosalie was spending the afternoon in the garden with Esme, tending to the flowers and picking the most beautiful ones for several bouquets they wanted to make to adorn their home. The wonderful smell of blooming roses, marguerites and gillyflowers surrounded them and soon the same smell would scent their home and brighten up several rooms with the beauty of their delicate blossoms and rich colours.

"No, not the pink ones," Rosalie said and shook her head lightly before pointing at the big rose bushes to their right. "The red ones have a fuller blossom. They would look perfect in the sitting room."

Esme thought about this for a moment before she nodded her head in agreement, smiling broadly. "You are right. They would look fantastic on the little sideboard next to the shelf."

After they had cut enough flowers, mother and daughter brought them to the wooden table on the wide terrace, ready to get started. It was wonderful for both women to be spending time together doing these delicate works and chatting away about this and that. Two and a half years - it had been little more than two and a half years since they had basically become a family even though it hadn't felt that way right from the beginning – especially for Rosalie. But now Rose had to admit that it was like they had lived together forever, and she was sure that she was as close to Esme as her mother as she could be.

Ever since she had found her Emmett, it was like she could finally be herself again and truly accept her new existence and her new family. He was what she had needed in her life, the missing piece she had been longing for to find, and it had been love at first sight. She felt content and at peace with the world and herself now that he was a part of her life - and the most important part at that.

"_Rose!_"

That voice made a dazzling smile appear on the beautiful blonde's face, and she spun around just in time to be face to face with her big bear of a husband who caught her in his muscular arms and spun her around once before placing her back on her feet.

He puckered his lips and smacked hers with his, causing her to giggle when he pulled away again.

"Behave," she chided playfully and slapped her hand against his chest.

"Behave?" he queried with raised eyebrows and a smirk started to form on his lips. "Well, last night you liked -"

"Hem-hem."

An impish smile, dimpling Emmett's face, was directed apologetically at his Mom as he turned his head to look at the brown-haired woman.

"Sorry, Mom. Nothing happened, of course."

Esme shook her head, but her expression showed amusement. "Opinions may differ as to what nothing means. I think Edward would agree with me."

Emmett snorted and waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, the little imp doesn't mind."

"_First of all I'm OLDER than you, and second of all: I DO mind! Your bed frame is hitting against my wall!_" could be heard being shouted from the window on the second floor right above them.

Hearing that their nightly activities disturbed their brother did not have the effect that they would be embarrassed or even feel the need to apologise. No, Emmett guffawed and hugged his wife to himself, cupping her behind in a fashion that told Esme that they weren't planning on letting this night be any easier to endure for Edward than the last ones or the many nights before that.

She gave her bulky son a look of disapproval and tutted.

"It's a natural reaction," Emmett explained, giving his mother an innocent, yet mischievous look. "I cannot help it."

Rose placed her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his broad chest while a smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

Seeing them together was so wonderful for Esme and the last thing she wanted was to keep her two newlyweds from being happy and getting to know each other in all possible ways, but she did have to admit that it was not only Edward who found their excessive love-making rather shocking. The problem was that as long as Emmett was still so young and needed surveillance, she couldn't send the lovebirds on their honeymoon away from the rest of the family. It would just have to wait and they would just have to accept the situation for now and try to live through it.

"How was your hunt, Emmett?" she asked, knowing that he was still completely euphoric about being able to hunt up animals, hold them down with his bare hands and, well, suck the life out of them.

He just grinned at her in return - it was only broken by Rose putting a hand on the back of his neck and pulling his face down to hers. Her tongue flicked out and she licked his bottom lip before saying, "He had bear."

"And what a huge thing it had been! His paws were as big as my head," he exclaimed and held his hand up in a way the bear must have done, "and he slapped at me like he wanted to disembowel me and then feed on it."

Esme's face scrunched up at his detailed description and Rose took a step back so she wouldn't accidentally become a part of Em's little re-enactment.

"Please, Emmy, you don't have to graphic," Esme pleaded while he was busy replaying the fight for them by clawing at the air.

"You should have seen his face, Mom! He was completely startled but too proud to turn away and run from me. Thought because he was bigger than me he could win this little fight," he said, then snorted as the memory played out in his mind. "Stupid bear."

There was the iron smell of blood mixed with the strong, musky smell of bear on him that wafted over to her when a light breeze started blowing in her direction. She noticed that the crook of her boy's arm and the right half of his collar seemed to be soaked with blood and covered in loose bear fur - his face and his hands, however, looked clean. For a moment she had been concerned as she knew that he had developed some kind of difficult relationship with bears. But she always considered herself lucky when he kept it at wrestling with the bear - before he fed, while he fed, and afterwards when the poor creature was dead. Lately he had started talking about keeping a part of the dead thing and taking it home as well, but thankfully up until now they had managed to hinder him from following through with his idea.

They didn't have had that explicit problem before, but after his second slip-up - a very unfortunate incident which made a change of scenery necessary, of course - they had moved to Hoquiam, WA. The forest that surrounded them didn't just hold animals such as elk, deer, mountain lion and wildcat, but quite a few bears as well. The good thing was that bear made the boy extremely happy and the taste of the blood was satisfying enough so that he seemed to be a lot more in control of his bloodlust and the mood swings the newborn years brought. But the bad thing was that he was starting to become quite sulky when he couldn't find bear on one of his frequent hunts and had to make do with some different animal that was less tasty and less fun to play with.

Clearing her throat, Esme gave her son a little smile. "Why don't you go get changed, Emmett? You surely cannot feel comfortable wearing a dirty shirt." That way he would finally stop fighting imaginary bears and she could be sure that he wouldn't stain anything.

"Sure. Come Rose, I have to show you something," he said excitedly and pulled at his wife's hand, leading her to the open French windows and into the house.

Esme smiled as she looked after them, glad that they were leading such a more or less normal and comfortable family life. Her three healthy and happy children were truly a blessing and she was thankful that she had been given another chance to live a life like this.

She bound the last few flowers together and then looked down at the five bouquets she and Rosalie had made. They were indeed beautiful and she couldn't wait to see them in the pretty porcelain vases that were a present from her loving husband.

Grabbing two of them and cradling them in her arms so the flowers wouldn't accidentally break on the way inside, she then turned around and entered the house.

The strong smell of bear blood hit her, and she shook her head while letting out a sigh. Yes, the newest addition to the family, her boulder-sized cub Emmy, still had trouble feeding without spilling half of the nourishing liquid. He just had too much fun wrestling with the struggling animal and growling while drinking. He liked the funny gurgling noises and the little blood bubbles it created - yes, he was a little child in the body of a very, _very_ big boy. Hopefully he wouldn't get the idea to use a straw next time - but then again, maybe that would leave his clothes in a cleaner state.

In their beautiful dining room - no, not the forest - she placed the freshly bound bouquets onto the old oak table and turned around to open the cabinet. She found the two vases she was looking for immediately, retrieved them and placed them in the middle of the dining table.

To get water for the flowers, she went to the kitchen where she picked up the watering pot from the floor next to the door and made her way over to the sink to fill it up.

It took her a moment to realise that something was odd. The purple lavender soap they kept next to the sink had just been used. That wasn't odd, naturally, because that was the purpose of this little piece of soap, but it was hairy and had light red streaks all over it and the surface it was lying on was soiled as well. She looked down into the sink and saw that the plughole was covered in wet, brown hair. So that's why it smelled so weird in here... oh well, at least she had managed to teach Em to wash his face and hands when they got dirty.

With a full watering pot in hand, she made her way back into the dining room and poured some water into the vases. Placing a bouquet into each, she pushed one vase into the middle of the table, then grabbed the other one to carry upstairs. The sideboard on the upper floor could use some flowers to brighten up the ordinary hallway and she hummed a happy tune while climbing the stairs.

She could smell exactly where Emmett had been, his trail was thick in the air and if she didn't know any better she would have thought that he had been rolling around in a puddle of bear blood.

When she reached the uppermost step and looked down the hall, the vase suddenly slipped from her hands and shattered on the wooden floor, spraying her legs and the walls with water and covering the floor with shards of porcelain. The freshly cut flowers that she had chosen with her daughter lay limp amidst the mess.

She gasped in disbelief, but it wasn't the broken vase that drew this reaction from her. She just stepped over the puddle, pieces of the vase crunching underneath the soles of her feet, and she hurried down the hall with her mouth agape.

The whole time her eyes were fixed on the sideboard and what she found had been placed on top of it.

There was a dirty, bloody, smelly, overly disgusting bear head. Its tongue hung from its open mouth that was missing a few teeth, and one eye seemed like it had been penetrated as a gooey mass was oozing out of it, making the thing look even more grotesque and repugnant. The snowy-white decorative cover that she had put there earlier today to place the vase with the flowers on was now discoloured and soaked with dark blood. A soft dripping sound told her that the blood was already forming a little puddle on her expensive and pristine hardwood floor behind the sideboard.

She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes while reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose like Carlisle was prone to do in stressful moments, all the while hoping this whole mess would somehow magically disappear as soon as she would open her eyes again.

But she had no such luck.

"Emmett!" she yelled, "You will come here _right now_! Edward, you, too!"

It was silent for a moment until she heard shuffling of feet, then the clicking of locks as two doors were being opened. They creaked simultaneously and so Esme knew her children had heard her, but obviously fancied the safety of their rooms over having to face her as no one emerged from the rooms.

She did not turn around, just lifted her hand and curled two fingers at them, knowing that her children would see it and understand what that motion meant.

The doors creaked open further and out came two boys.

"Esme?" Edward asked hesitantly while approaching her, even though he was well aware of what she had found and how much she liked having it in her house.

Closing her eyes as though it would help her keep the irritation at bay and slowly turning around, Esme pointed at the mauled bear head and asked in an exasperated voice, "What is that?"

"_Do you like it?_"

Her eyes snapped open and she stared at her dark-haired son. Of all the reactions, of all the things anyone could have said at the moment, she had not been prepared for that.

Emmett didn't seem too concerned; he just stepped closer to her and smiled at her like he was glad she had finally found it.

"Wh-what?" she queried, looking and sounding completely flabbergasted.

"Do you like it?" he asked again and took the last few steps until he reached the huge head. He bent down a little - it was like he was looking this gross thing in the face - and then he reached out and started petting it. "It's the biggest one I have ever caught. You said you wanted to adorn the house today, so I brought this," he told her and smiled while he stroked it some more.

"Emmy, honey... no, I don't like it," she replied.

His face fell and he straightened up again to look at her with big, round eyes that held disappointment.

"Baby, nobody in their right mind would like that," she told him with a sad look in her eyes, shaking her head.

Just a moment ago she had been appalled and shocked and angry, but now she started to feel bad as she seemed to have quenched his excitement over his successful hunt and the little present he had brought home. He had only wanted to contribute, but she wouldn't let that happen - she _couldn't_ let that happen because this was absolutely gross. It was just so hard to be strict at that moment as her son wasn't the bigmouthed, exuberant Emmett right now, but a disappointed, little boy. She was truly curious which side would overweigh once he would grow out of his newborn years.

"This is gross. It is dirty and it smells, and it soiled the sideboard and the floor. You cannot bring something like this into the house, honey, you know that."

"But I love it! I caught it myself and I want to keep it."

She reached up and cupped his face in her hands, pressing her lips together for a moment while giving him a sympathetic look. "No."

"But-"

"No," she said again, shaking her head at him.

"Awww."

"We have told you before that we don't want anything dead in the house."

And just like that he started smirking, before a laugh escaped him. "But... Edward is dead, too. Does that mean he is not allowed inside the house anymore?"

"Emmett...," Esme scolded, not deeming her son's remark the least bit funny. "What would your father think if he saw this?" she asked and motioned towards the severed head of the smelly male bear which was despite its lifelessness still busy soiling her house.

"I don't know...," he replied, shrugging his shoulders, but as Esme's just continued to stare at him as she was waiting for a proper answer, he hung his head.

"He wouldn't like it," he eventually murmured, sounding crestfallen and sad.

"Yes, he wouldn't like it," she confirmed and sighed when she saw that he still hadn't changed out of his dirty clothes. Lightly petting his cheek with one hand, she said, "Go take a bath, Emmett."

His shoulders slumped but he nodded his head before turning around and shuffling down the hall until he reached the bathroom. He looked back at Esme one more time with a pleading look on his face, but all she did was shake her head. And without another word he disappeared into the bathroom to clean up.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Esme put her hands on her hips and focussed her eyes on her other son. "Edward, what's this about?"

He heaved a load groan. "I told him not to bring it inside."

"And what_ is this_?" Esme asked and pointed at the bear head. She didn't even want to look at it anymore - all she wanted was to get it out of the house and forget that this had ever happened.

With his arms crossed, he leaned against the wall and glared at the floor. "Mother, he refused to listen to me." He didn't know why his parents loved to pick him as the babysitter and whenever something happened, he had to explain himself. It wasn't his fault that Emmett was lacking common sense, maybe it was Rosalie's fault, who knew, but it definitely wasn't his.

"And why didn't you tell me what he had in mind? Just look what happened."

He distorted his mouth. "Because I prefer to stay out of his mind, Ma'am."

"The blood will most definitely leave stains," Esme mumbled with a sad sigh, then shook her head as standing around and feeling glum would not help get rid of the horrible thing and the mess it had made.

Edward would not say it now and definitely not in front of his mother, but the stains didn't worry him all that much. The thing reeked, that was a bit of a nuisance, but apart from that he just wanted to ignore it until somebody would throw it out and clean up.

"Edward, Rosalie? Please help me clean this up."

Rolling his eyes when Esme wasn't looking, Edward cursed under his breath as he had already half expected that he would have to clean up the mess one of his lovely siblings had made. He was really starting to detest newborns as they were so hard to control and never listened to him. He was the second eldest person in the house but still - no one listened to him. It was quite frustrating.

And it was remarkable that Rosalie had watched the whole talk from her room without even uttering a single word, but now suddenly sprang to life at her mother's words.

"I'll pick up the shards of porcelain and put the flowers in a new vase, Mother!" she chirped, then picked up the dripping bouquet they had bound a few minutes ago and vanished downstairs.

Edward's eyes narrowed while he listened to the sounds of his blonde sister bolting down the stairs as she was desperately trying to get away from the bear in order to keep her hands clean. That left him and Esme to clean up the bloody mess _her_ husband had created.

"Could you take it outside, Edward? I go get a bucket and a brush." And with that, Esme left as well and the bronze-haired boy found himself standing alone in the hallway. He turned his head and looked at the bear head with the leaking eye and the long tongue hanging out... it looked like this stupid thing was mocking him.

It infuriated him and with an angry snort he took a few steps to the end of the hallway and wrenched the window open, then grabbed the dripping head and tossed it out of the house and into the forest. He could hear the faint splash of water in the distance which made him smile with satisfaction as he knew that he had just thrown it into the river that wound along through the thick forest.

_Would be interesting to see if it sinks or floats..., _he thought with a low chuckle._ And if it floats, it would be interesting to see the stupid looks on the faces of the humans who would be fortunate enough to find it._

But when he heard Emmett starting to sing in the bathroom while he undressed to get in the tub, he couldn't help but groan as he perceived his brother's carefreeness despite the mess he had caused.

And that was the first time Emmett had managed to bring a bear head into the house.

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**Yep, Emmett's very own story! I really hope he likes it and will keep his nose out of his siblings stories from now on... but I have my doubts that this distraction will work, LOL  
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**Thanks for reading and, as always, I'd love to know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

It was another cloudy day and the light rain resembled a veil of haze, giving the town a kinda eerie look. Edward was on his way home from school and he was not in the best of moods.

Today it was his turn to take Emmett hunting again, and he slowly dragged his feet across the pavement to gain a little more time to himself before he would have to waste the rest of his afternoon watching his brother.

Due to his ability and the fact that Emmett was slowly losing his extreme newborn strength and his impulsiveness, Carlisle and Esme had figured that he could just as well take Emmett for a hunt sometimes as they were all taking turns.

Rose and Esme usually went together with Em, because they felt safer to have someone with them in case he would pick up an interesting scent and needed to be dragged away from the source – but Edward wasn't a girl and he claimed that he could handle the boy on his own.

Carlisle also went alone with Emmett as he had experience in dealing with newborns and controlling them, and he enjoyed spending some alone time with his son in order to get to know him a little better. It was always a joy to see that he was feeling comfortable around his brother and mother and how much he loved Rose, and Carlisle was truly happy that Emmett was happy.

Edward walked down the street and passed the last few shops and houses until he was out of town, following the way for a little longer until he reached the muddy path through the forest that would lead him to the hidden entrance to their property. He liked living so secluded and he could already perceive the distinctive sweet smell of their house and the people who where living there.

The smell of home had changed a few months ago when Rosalie had brought home a wounded young man who got mauled by a bear and nearly killed in the process.

He would have to get used to it, he figured, just like he had needed to get used to it when Esme joined them, followed by Rose a few years ago.

Emmett was his brother now.

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Emmett was sitting by the window, his eyes wide while he scanned the path leading to their house for his brother. He knew that they would go hunting soon and he had been excited all day. Why the little one had insisted on attending classes and study was beyond him - he had finished school already and it wasn't like they really needed to learn human stuff anymore - Rosie had refused so she could stay home with him, and maybe Edward should have done the same. He felt that Edward was wasting precious time that he could spend with him going on bear hunts and just having fun.

They were always having so much fun together... so why would he choose to sit in school where he would be bored to tears and miss out on all the fun? Fun was the most important thing in life, and then came love as runner-up.

He looked over his shoulder to glance at the clock on the wall, then started drumming his fingers on the window sill.

"Emmett," Rose sighed while dipping the tip of her fountain pen into the inkwell that was standing on the coffee table in front of her. "That won't make him come home any faster."

"But all the good bears will be gone if we don't leave soon!" he complained.

She chuckled and continued to write the letter she was going to send to Tanya and her family. "Emmy, in this area we are the only ones of our kind and we are the only ones who chose this particular diet," she said over the loud scratching sounds of the pen on the thick paper.

"I want a big bear, a really big one, no, a _huge_ one! Just imagine what the blood must taste like...," he muttered musingly as venom pooled in his mouth that he had to gulp down quickly before he could direct a huge smile at his wife.

She smiled back at him, enjoying his good mood and his refreshing excitement that always rubbed off on her and put her in a state of almost constant felicity.

But at that moment his face fell as a thought struck him. "Uh-oh...," he uttered, "what if we won't be able to find any bears at all?" He stared at her with a look of panic in his eyes.

She sighed and focussed back on her letter. "You'll have to make do with what you find, darling."

He approached her and slumped down next to her on the sofa, folding his arms while his face formed into a pout with his cheeks puffing out.

"The most important thing is that you don't go hungry. You have all eternity to hunt down bears."

All of a sudden his face lit up again and he sat up straight. "I think I heard something!" he exclaimed and jumped up, his knee bumping against the edge of the coffee table when he sped towards the window.

The little ink bottle on the table fell over and spilled a good portion of the dark liquid over the letter Rose was currently writing. She lifted the paper up in the air to save it from further damage and she managed to pick the bottle up before all the ink could run out.

The upper quarter of the letter was ruined and she sighed. Accidents like that happened all the time around her mate. Well, at least he would grow out of it soon and honestly, she couldn't even be mad at him. She chose to write at the coffee table in the living room instead of at the desk in the office, so she really had no one else to blame but herself for having to write the letter anew.

Emmett was standing by the window again, looking out in hopes he would finally be able to detect his brother coming home.

"Oh, there he is!" he called, then ran from the room and through the house until he reached the foyer. Wrenching the front door open, he took a step onto the front porch, a huge smile plastered across his face when Edward rounded the last corner and walked towards him.

Bolting over to his brother, Emmett flung his arms around him, embracing him in a big bear hug, then lifted him off his feet and tightened the embrace.

The air was knocked from Edward's lungs, and the only thing he managed to do in this constricted pose was to tap his brother lightly on the back, indicating that he would like to breathe again and have some room to move.

"Oh," Emmett mumbled, then set him back on his feet and beamed at him. "Are we going hunting now? If we find a bear, it's mine, all right?"

Edward inwardly groaned - he didn't even get a few minutes of reprieve after having spend hours being surrounded by inane students.

"I told you not to come near me when I get home from school. Go find Rosalie while I get changed," he told the exuberant boy, then walked past him and into the house.

"Emmett,_ inside_," he said and pointed into the house when he had reached the foyer, all the while holding the door so his brother could enter and he could shut the door again.

"Sorry, Eddie," Emmett uttered with a smirk and rushed past him, ruffling his hair when he did so.

Edward let out a silent growl, then fixed his hair with one hand while he closed the door with the other.

God, newborns could be so annoying...

He stomped up the stairs and vanished into his room in order to change into some old clothes that he could wear for their hunt. He never spilled anything, that was something he had managed to master pretty early as he didn't like running around in stained shirts, but with Emmett you never knew what would happen to your clothes. He liked shoving him or wanted to wrestle, he threw leaves and dirt and rocks at him while he fed, and sometimes he fought so much with his prey that he - as the onlooker - got sprayed with blood from the poor, scared animal.

Another reason why he as well as Carlisle always changed right after they came home was that the faint smells of humans that surrounded them might be trapped in the fabric of their clothes which could set the newborn off. So they didn't want Emmett to get too close to them when they returned home from school or from work. But Emmett tended to forget that he needed to wait for them to come find him after they returned and not the other way around.

Yes, he was just full of joy and extremely excited - quite wondrous attributes for a newborn. Edward was sure that he hadn't been like that when he was still that young, and Rosalie had been anything but excited and happy. More like hateful and spiteful and downright horrible.

He took off his trousers and shed his shirt, dropping both items onto his bed before grabbing a clean smelling pair of pants from his closet.

He heard Rosalie giggling and taking a glimpse into his siblings' heads, he could see that Emmett was feeling frisky again. Rose wanted to go into town with Esme today to get new clothes for her mate, and so she needed to distract him from his sudden urges - she did so begrudgingly, of course.

With a shudder he pulled out of their minds again, then slipped into his clean trousers and reached for a shirt. He was just in the process of putting it on when he heard Esme emerge from the master bedroom and make her way down the hall to his room.

Quickly sliding his arms into the shirt and buttoning up, he then opened the door before Esme even had a chance to knock.

She stood there with her balled hand in the air, ready to rap her knuckles against the wooden door, but lowered it when she saw her boy standing in front of her.

"Edward, you're home," she said with a warm, motherly smile and hugged him. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in." When she pulled away again, she looked him over, then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you taking Emmett for a hunt now? Rosalie and I-"

"You are going into town, I know."

She nodded. "He has been looking forward to it all day, he's always so excited about going on a hunt with you, Edward. I'm sure he won't give you any trouble."

"I can handle him."

"All right, dear," she said and rubbed his upper arm for a moment to show her gratitude, before looking in the direction of the stairs when she heard Rosalie calling for her.

"Let's go, hm? Or do you need a moment to yourself? We can stay for another hour to keep an eye on Em while you rest."

"No, it's quite all right. I'd like to go hunting before I get started on my homework."

He stepped out into the hallway and pulled the door to his room shut, then let his mother put an arm around his shoulders to walk downstairs with him.

Rosalie and Emmett were standing in the foyer, and it looked like they were right in the middle of a heavy make out session.

Esme cleared her throat, and they broke away from each other like they hadn't expected anyone to walk in on them.

"Stop that, Rosalie, I told you before that this is inappropriate," Emmett chided her and pulled at the hem of his shirt to straighten out the fabric, then cleared his throat loudly, which only made Rose snort with laughter.

She put a hand on his chest, then got up on her tip-toes and placed a soft kiss on his lips before pulling away and turning to look at Esme.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yes, dear... are you?" Esme queried with a frown when she saw Emmett trying to be really inconspicuous as he put a hand on his mate's butt, squeezing it.

"Emmett," Rose said and slapped his hand away. "I thought you are thirsty. Edward would like to take you for a hunt now, remember?"

Yes, he remembered.

The boy turned his head and when his eyes found his brother standing on the bottom step of the stairs, he started grinning.

"Great, let's go!" he exclaimed, then bolted from the room and out of the house.

Edward rolled his eyes.

He quickly waved good bye to his mother, then took off after the impulsive newborn to make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid.

With ease he caught up with him, seeing that he was exceptionally fast and always knew beforehand where Emmett was heading and what he planned to do. The sound of Emmett guffawing when he detected him running next to him distracted Edward for a moment, and he suddenly got pushed into a tree by the insane newborn who immediately took off again.

_Always the same..._

Picking himself up off the ground and brushing splinters of wood and bark from his clothes, he rushed after him again, now regretting that he hadn't accepted Esme's offer to rest for a while before taking crazy Emmett for his walk.

This time he was with him even quicker, because Emmett had stopped running and was now standing in the middle of a clearing, stock still. He whipped his head to the side, sniffing the air, then turned it to the other side and did the same, all the while listening for the distinct sounds of movement in the thick woods. He turned around and as his eyes met Edward's, he just put a finger to his lips, then winked before heading for the river nearby. Despite the loud rushing sounds of the water, he must have heard something that caught his interest.

Yes, the Hoquiam river held salmon, and bears liked salmon... Emmett wasn't as stupid as he looked like.

He bolted after him so as to not leave him out of his sight, pushing branches and ferns out of his way while the sounds of the river grew gradually louder. An enraged roar filled the air, accompanied by excited laughter.

Edward pushed through the undergrowth until he reached the riverside, then halted and leaned with his back against a tree, crossing his arms. Before his eyes a wrestling match took place between an angry male cinnamon-coloured black bear and... Emmett.

Well, at least Em was busy now and all he needed to do was to make sure that there were no humans nearby to witness this bizarre play or distract Emmett from one of his favourite pastimes. He really did not want any dead humans on his watch. He would have to dispose of them and get Emmett under control, then they would have to move,... no, thank you.

The first half of the fight played out in the water where the bear had been standing to get a drink of water or catch a fish, until Emmett decided that it would be fun to see how agile the tasty omnivore would be on land.

The bear swatted at him and let out threatening snorts before roaring loudly, revealing his dangerous teeth. Emmett grinned and ran around the bear, pushing him from behind and jumping onto his back just to get him riled up even more. He slapped the beast on the nose and tickled his belly - and Edward groaned while he watched.

_This could take forever..._

"Emmett? Would you mind getting a move on?"

Emmett looked up at him with a questioning facial expression, and the bear used that moment of distraction to grab him from behind and drop his weight on him to push him to the ground while biting into the back of his head and neck. Too bad for the bear that Emmett was strong and his skin was harder than the bear's teeth. The boy's laugh rang through the air, and he grabbed the bear's front legs and swung him over his shoulders only to slam him onto his back on the muddy earth.

An angry bellow escaped the bear while he struggled to get back to his feet in order to fight his attacker and hopefully kill him. Em crouched low, giving the animal as much time as it would need to attack again, while he bared his teeth and hissed in an attempt to provoke the bear some more - and for the simple reason that he enjoyed hissing and growling.

Edward looked up to check the sky for more rain, then wondered if Esme would bring him some sheet music to play on his beautiful Kimball baby grand as soon as it would be delivered. They had to leave it behind in their old house when they moved here, and he had to admit that he missed it more than anything. Carlisle and Esme got him a used upright piano once they had settled into their new house so he would still be able to play, but it sounded horrible in comparison and that's why he only used it for practice. It just wasn't the same.

The next time he looked up he was delighted to see that Emmett was finally having more physical contact with the bear now as he was holding him in a tight headlock and rubbed his knuckles briskly over the animal's head. Soon the musky odor of the bear and the sound of the rushing of the hot, adrenaline-laced blood in the bear's veins would be too much for him and then he'd finally sink his teeth into its neck. As soon as he had fed they could go home again.

The sounds of them fighting turned into mere background noises as Edward thought about how everything had changed since Emmett had joined them. Weirdly enough Rosalie was less bitchy when the newborn was around. Unfortunately now she and Em annoyed him together, but it wasn't as hateful as before when it had just been Rose.

So except for having to play the nanny once again, he had the feeling that the situation at home had improved a little bit. Well, except for having to make do with a crappy piano instead of his little beauty.

Seeing that Emmett had finally managed to roll around on the ground with this huge beast, he was breathing a sigh of relief that soon they could leave again. He guessed that enough time must have passed already.

The fights always took a while, but he wasn't allowed to rush his brother because newborns needed to work all the stress off, satisfy their hunting instincts and take their time testing their control.

Em's wasn't too bad, he figured, and when he heard an anguished roar and gurgled growling, he knew that Emmett hadn't been able to prolong this any further. He was feeding now, swallowing mouthfuls of bear blood and spilling part of it as he kept on growling and hissing throughout the drinking process. _What a nasty habit..._

The gurgling went on for another minute, until the bear sagged to the ground like a lifeless meat puppet. Emmett burped after he had finally managed to dislodge his lips from the ragged wound he had inflicted on the neck of the animal, and there was a satisfied, red-toothed grin on his face.

"I won," he said happily and nodded at Edward, who just distorted his mouth at seeing the mess his brother had made. The blood of the bear was smeared across his lips and cheeks, blood was dripping from his chin onto his clothes that looked ripped and dirty and covered in bear fur. There was no way Esme would be able to get them clean again.

Taking a deep breath while pushing away from the tree, Edward stretched his back and walked towards him. "Ready to go home again?"

Emmett shook his head vehemently, then headed towards him and grabbed him by the hand. Pulling him over to the dead bear lying defeated and dead on the ground, he led him to its front and pointed at the head.

"It's huge, isn't it? Oh, he was so angry and aggressive, I've never had that much fun before! Next time we'll go look for two of them so you can fight as well!"

Edward pulled his hands from his brother's grip and looked at it, wrinkling his nose at the blood smears and dirt stains that were now soiling his once clean skin. "No, thank you."

Without looking at him again he just walked on until he reached the river, and he squatted down to wash the grime from his hands in the cool water so he wouldn't accidentally soil his clothes.

A glimpse at his brother's mind made him pinch his eyes shut and hang his head.

He saw the boy on top of the animal with his knees pressed firmly into its back to keep its shoulders flat on the ground while he grabbed the head and then broke the neck and tore the skin, sinews and muscles in one swift motion, effectively decapitating his prey.

This was the second time he had to witness his brother beheading a bear, and it was just as gross as the first time had been. He looked over his shoulder when he heard Emmett's heavy footsteps heading toward him, and suddenly he was kneeling next to him, holding the mauled head on one of his dirty palms like he wanted to present it to him.

"Emmett, what are you doing?"

"Now that's a great one, don't you think?" he asked, giving him a triumphant smile that practically let him feel his brother's pride and the joy that currently surged through him.

"You cannot keep it."

"Yes, I can. It's mine," he replied petulantly and hugged it to himself, soiling his shirt even more.

"Do you remember what Esme said? She doesn't want dirty bear heads in the house."

Emmett's face scrunched up at the memory, feeling quite dispirited by his brother's words. But that didn't last long as he looked around and got an idea.

Edward knew what it was even before Emmett said it out loud, and he could have groaned in frustration.

"I'll wash it now, then it's all right."

"Emmett," Edward admonished, "let go of it. Just drop it."

"No."

"This head will stay here in the forest, do you understand? You will not bring it home."

Emmett's thoughts alone told him that he wasn't going to obey him. The newborn was desperate to hold onto his prize, and he was giddy with excitement to be able to show it to the rest of the family. "Okay," the boy lied, nodding his head but didn't stop dunking the bear head into the water again and again in order to clean it of any excessive blood and goo. "I just want to carry it for a little while to say good-bye."

_What a horrible liar..._ "A dirty bear head does not belong in the house, leave it here."

"It looks clean now, doesn't it?" he queried, holding it up again, this time by one of its ears. The other one had apparently 'gone missing' during the fight.

Little pink droplets of water and mud were dripping from the severed head, and it was so abysmally ugly with its dislocated jaw and the missing ear. The bear had a huge cut on its cheek, making the skin hang down from the bone and revealing its large teeth. It looked like he was giving them a weird, lopsided grin. And it looked like it might fall apart any second.

"Emmett," Edward said and buried his face in his open hands, groaning loudly now. "The bear will stay in the forest."

"Yes," Emmett said, nodding his head slowly, "and you still need to hide him. Carlisle wouldn't like it if you left him here for everyone to see, you know that."

Getting lectured by a newborn was quite infuriating, but he had learned to be patient with these crazy idiots.

Clenching his jaw and exhaling an angry breath, he pushed himself up into a standing position and stalked over to the huge body. He grabbed it by the right hint foot, then pulled it into the direction of an old tree, which he pulled from the muddy ground with ease. He kicked the dead bear into the big hole he just created, then placed the uprooted tree on top of it again, stomping down on the loose earth to give it some more foothold and make it look like nothing unusual had ever happened here.

Turning around and brushing his hands off against each other, he saw his brother standing there by the river, both of his hands behind his back and from this position forty feet away it looked like something dark and dripping wet was dangling between his legs.

"You cannot take a bear head with you."

"I know," Emmett replied, nodding his head to show him that he had understood. "But what bear head?"

_Okay, I am so not in the mood for this now..._

"Are you ready to go home?" Edward asked with annoyance in his voice that he just didn't manage to suppress, looking at his brother with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure am," Emmett replied with a grin. "I'll follow you."

_Great, he really thinks I'm stupid enough to not notice..._

But if Emmett refused to listen to him, Carlisle and Esme could take care of it. He really didn't care.

All Edward wanted was to head back home and get started on his homework. It would help him relax, and he would finally be done with this tedious task of taking newborn Em hunting. The boy had fed, he had a lot of fun, and his job was done.

They ran in silence, only picking up their pace when the smell of home wafted over to them. Emmett's thoughts were a jumble of excitement and triumph, of joy and giddiness. There was absolutely no stopping him.

And he wasn't in the mood for discussing this with an undiscerning, stubborn vampire trainee or yell at him and maybe end up provoking a fight. Let him head for his doom, that's the only way he would learn.

"You don't bring this inside, am I clear? Not inside the house, just put it somewhere else, but don't bring it inside, all right?" he demanded one last time, keeping his voice soft in order to make his brainless brother see reason.

"Yes."

_Of course he would say that._

"All right, I'm going inside now. Follow me, will you?"

"Sure," Emmett said with a smile, getting more excited by the second that his incredibly great plan was going to work out and he had successfully fooled Edward. As soon as he would step into the house he had basically won, he thought.

_Dear Lord... _

But when Edward suddenly saw what his brother was planning on doing with it, he stopped worrying. This wouldn't be too bad, and Esme would be able to take care of it on her own, no problem.

"Let's go."

Edward entered the house through the side door and stepped into the kitchen. He held the door for his brother who still had his hands behind his back and was walking sideways as he moved past him, all the while grinning like a little child that had trouble containing his mischievousness and excitement.

Well, Edward really did not care anymore.

He closed the door, then looked at his brother, telling him to stay inside until the others would come back home. Emmett's thirst was satiated, he was feeling comfortable and happy and Edward was sure that he could leave him alone for a few minutes without having to worry that he'd do something stupid. Well, not any more stupid than what he already had in mind.

And just like expected, Emmett gave him an innocent smile and nodded.

"Good."

Closing the door and bolting it just for the heck of it, Edward left the kitchen and headed for his room. Now he was free to do whatever he wanted - someone else could take care of Emmett's mess.

* * *

Esme and Rose came home when it was already starting to grow dark outside. Carlisle still wasn't home as he was working double shifts, but they knew that their two boys would be waiting for them. They had purchased quite a few clothes for the newest addition to the family, but couldn't go overboard as despite being able to save a lot of money due to their exceptionally cheap vampire diet, Carlisle still didn't earn enough so that they could spend it on whatever they wanted.

But the big boy needed something clean to wear, and so this was mostly the reason why they felt the need to head into town for some shopping.

Esme picked up a faint musty smell when she opened the front door to step inside. At first she didn't think much of it as she knew that her boys had been hunting, but the vivid memory of a gross bear head that had soiled her house just a week ago was pushing itself into her mind.

"Do you smell that?" she asked her daughter, looking at her with uneasy eyes as she stepped into the house and lifted her head a little to sniff the air. She set one of the bags down, but kept the ones with Emmett's clothes in her hand.

"Emmett went hunting, you know that," Rose answered and shrugged her shoulders, not deeming the smell to be a cause for alarm.

"Let's show him what we got for him," she suggested, beaming up at her mother. She was so looking forward to seeing her successful hunter again and maybe even take a bath with him in case he hadn't bathed already. And then he could show her how handsome he looked in his new clothes.

"Yes, but I'd like to put one of the new shirts in our closet... just in case," Esme uttered, making Rose turn back to look at her and nod her head. Couldn't hurt, after all.

They headed upstairs while Esme's nervousness peaked until the upper corridor came into view.

It was clean.

It was stench-free.

It was... perfect.

A loud sigh of relief fell from her lips, and Rose frowned at her for a moment before continuing to walk over to her and Emmett's room. The door was ajar, and when she was in the process of pushing it open, Emmett was already standing in front of her.

"You're back!" he exclaimed and reached out for her, then enveloped her in his arms and spun her around like he always did. He kissed her lips before he set her back on her feet again, and her eyes twinkled when she looked up into his smiling face.

"Hi, darling."

"How was your hunt with Edward?" Esme asked him.

He took a step towards her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before his smile grew even wider. "We had so much fun!"

"That's great, dear," she said and smiled before she took a step back. "I'll go talk to him for a moment."

"No!" Emmett called, then suddenly lowered his voice to a near whisper. "He's studying right now because he wants to be really smart one day."

When they just looked at him, he lifted his right hand and put his forefinger to his lips. "Sshh."

"Well, I'm sure he'll come find us as soon as he's done," Esme whispered back and Emmett nodded his head at her.

"I'll wash out the new vase, Rosalie, maybe tomorrow you can help me pick a few flowers to put in there?"

Rosalie slung her arm around her mate's waist and looked back at Esme. "Of course, mother, I'd love to."

Esme watched them for a moment as she enjoyed seeing them so happy together, then handed her daughter their purchases before she turned around and headed back downstairs. Her nose wrinkled while she descended the steps - she didn't like the lingering smell of bear in the house, and it was quite peculiar that she could smell it even though Emmett had seemingly washed his face and hands and had changed into some clean clothes.

She stopped for a second and grabbed the bag with the vase in it from the bottom step of the stairs, then made her way into the kitchen. Placing the bag onto the kitchen table, she reached inside and lifted the cardbox out of it, putting it on the table next to the bag before she opened the lit to reveal the beautiful vase within. She knew that she probably shouldn't have bought it as they really needed to watch their money during difficult times like this when they were always running the risk of having to pack up and move again. But she truly fell in love with this pretty Fiesta bud vase in old ivory and so Rose had encouraged her to buy it, telling her that she should get something nice for herself once in a while... and so Esme had taken it to the counter and paid for it, feeling guilty and happy at the same time.

With delicate fingers she slowly pulled the beautiful glazed vase from the box, looked it over again with a little smile and then turned and headed for the sink.

With one hand she reached over to open the tap and when she looked down a loud shriek escaped her lips and the vase dropped from her hand, crashing onto the tile floor and bursting into a hundred pieces.

Her eyes were wide and she covered her mouth with one hand, while she braced herself against the kitchen counter with the other, breathing heavily.

There was a big and absolutely nasty bear head lying in her kitchen sink. It was mauled and wet and she wanted it out of the house.

She figured that she needed another moment to collect herself and calm down, and so she closed her eyes only to rip them open again and yell, "Emmett, Edward! Kitchen, _now_!"

Calming down had not worked.

Her big, dark-haired son walked into the room a few seconds after she had called for them and he was smiling broadly. He noticed the shards on the floor that were obviously the result of the loud crashing sound he had just heard. "Do you want me to help you clean this up?"

She took a deep breath while folding her hands in order to keep them still. "No, honey, I want you to explain to me what that_ thing_ is doing in my sink."

"I put it there," he told her proudly. "Do you like it?"

"Emmett, no. _No_, I do not like bear heads. NO. And I like them even less when they are dirty and inside our house where they clearly don't belong."

Emmett frowned at her. "But it's not dirty. I washed it."

She glanced at the wet head and shuddered before looking back at her boy again. "I can see that, Em, but that will not keep it from rotting."

He scratched the back of his head. "But... it's _clean_. I washed it and put it in the sink right away."

She could see how that would make sense to her boy, and she had to admit that she was feeling a little proud of him that he understood what had bothered her the most the last time he had brought a very similar surprise home. It wouldn't soil anything as long as it was lying in there as all the dirt and blood would go down the drain immediately. "I can see that, dear."

Her words brought the smile back to his face. "It'll stay there until it's dried."

_Oh no, it won't._

She slowly shook her head at him, then told him in a soft voice that she hoped would help him understand and see reason, "That would take a long time, honey, and it would stink even worse then. And how would we use the sink when it's lying in there?"

He thought about that. "We have a sink in the bathroom."

She leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms over her chest, closing her eyes for a brief moment. "It has to go, Emmett."

"But... it cannot _go,_ Mom, it's just a head!" he laughed, making his mother clench her teeth in annoyance. She really tried to be patient with her baby, but he was making it exceptionally difficult for her at the moment while she was surrounded by the wet and filthy smell of a dead bear head that was starting to decay in her kitchen sink.

"No severed bear heads in the house, Emmett."

"But-" "No."

He looked so very sad at that moment and had this been about something different she would have been half tempted to change her mind just to see him happy again. But right now it was just not possible and completely out of the question. She pushed away from the counter and took a step towards him, placing a hand on his upper arm. "Go upstairs to your room, Emmett. Rosalie has some new clothes for you to try on."

He distorted his mouth, but then nodded his head and shuffled from the room.

From the corner of her eye Esme detected Edward peeking into the room, and she turned towards him and folded her arms.

_Dispose of it and then I'd like to talk to you._

He groaned inwardly, knowing exactly what his mother wanted to talk about and what she would have to say to him.

While she kneeled down to pick up her brand-new and already broken vase, he walked over to the door and opened it, keeping it open with one foot while he reached into the sink and grabbed the head with both his hands.

Moving quickly to get it outside before it could drip some nasty goo onto the kitchen floor that would only serve to infuriate his mother, Edward walked outside with a sour expression on his face and came to a halt in the middle of their backyard. He held the head up, then drew his right leg back and kicked the nasty thing hard, sending it flying through the air and into the forest. He had to restrain himself not to use all his strength because that would have only shattered the stupid head and he would have had to clean up even more.

Turning around and walking back to the kitchen door, he perceived a loud thud in the distance and then the sound of branches breaking as he must have hit a tree with it. He shrugged his shoulders, then took his shoes off at the door and stepped back inside.

* * *

******Hello! Thank you so much for your reviews and adding this story to your alerts and favourites, I hope you won't regret it o.O **

**So now you know that Esme tends to drop things when something shocks her and ****newborn Emmy is basically a horny child... with vampire-ADHD or something**. He's a full-time job. Well, at least he is happy - completely demented, yes, but happy.

**And I don't know about you but I think this story is lacking some Carlisle. I made him promise me that he'll appear in the next chapter, so all we have to do now is wait :-) I really don't want Edward to become the new focus of the story... LOL**

**Thanks for reading and feedback is always welcome!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Edward," Esme said when she saw her son enter. She put the dust pan she had just used to clean the floor to the side before standing up and nodding her head towards one of the wooden chairs at the kitchen table. "Take a seat."

"I'd rather stand," he replied curtly, hoping that that way the dreaded talk would end in a matter of minutes instead of dragging on for half an hour. He really did not feel like wasting his time with talking about his idiotic, newborn brother and his fondness of dead animal parts when he could go back to his room and enjoy the silence as long as it would last. With two couples in the house, it never lasted long enough for him.

She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and pointed with her index finger at the exact same chair. "Sit."

With a silent sigh he pulled a different chair out and slumped down into it, folding his hands in front of him on the smooth table top and looking down on them.

Esme groaned internally at this subtle act of defiance, but chose not to say anything. "What happened on your hunt?"

He refused to answer at first, grinding his teeth together in annoyance while he felt and _saw_ his mother's eyes on him as she was seemingly patiently waiting for an answer.

So he wouldn't get out of this one.

Groaning, he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the smooth table top. "Mother, you know what happened. Emmett found a bear, fought with it, drained it and then ripped its head off."

"Did you tell him that he wasn't to bring it home?" she queried.

His head snapped up and he focussed his darkened eyes on her. "_Of course I_ _did!_"

"Edward, lower your voice. I am merely asking you a question; there is no reason for you to get mad at me."

Taking a calming breath as he now finally realised that he was not going to get yelled at or held responsible for Emmett's idiotic behaviour, he tried to keep his voice to a normal level. "I apologise, Esme. I told Emmett to leave it in the forest, told him that it was dirty and that he couldn't bring it home... and do you know what he did? He _washed_ it in the river."

"Did you tell him that washing it would not change the fact that it does not belong in the house?"

"_Yes_," he ground out, then noticed that he was getting worked up over his brother's stupidity again. Another deep breath later and he continued to explain in a calmer voice, "Yes, I did, but he does not listen to me. It was like talking to a wall... you know how stubborn newborns are."

She nodded her head at him, then sighed and with sad eyes looked over to the sink and the bin that now held her broken vase. "I don't want this to happen again."

"_But I do?!" _he asked, his eyes wide. "Esme, there is no way how I could possibly keep him from doing what he wants."

Esme exhaled deeply, then leaned against the edge of the table and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to think of a way to prevent similar events from happening again.

"Do you want me to yell at him or rip it from his hands?" Edward mumbled and huffed.

She held a hand up. "Edward, stop it. I know you are in a bad mood, but don't take it out on me, you hear? I don't blame you."

Glancing at her, he nodded his head feeling somewhat embarrassed by his inability to keep his annoyance and frustration from showing.

"Taking something from him that he wants to keep might end in a fight and I don't want that to happen."

"Well, me neither," he muttered as the thought of fighting the strongest newborn he could imagine was not a very pretty picture in his head.

"Then we need to think of something that will distract him so he will forget about the bear head when you are on your next hunt."

He put his head back and groaned loudly. "Do I _really_ have to continue taking him on hunts? He doesn't do this when he goes with you and Rosalie."

"He doesn't find bears when he goes with us."

Wonderful.

She stepped closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Do you think you could maybe take him to a different area where he wouldn't be able to find any bears?"

He shook his head. "He finds them, I don't even get the chance to lead him anywhere. He just runs off and I have no choice but to run after him. And I don't think Carlisle would appreciate your idea to try to deny him bear when it is the only animal he truly likes."

She slowly retrieved her hand and looked down, a little embarrassed that she would value the cleanliness of her house higher than having a satisfied boy who was currently learning to get his bloodlust under control. He needed this burst of confidence, he needed these wild animals to fight and work his energy off on, and he needed the taste of the musty and musky blood as it seemed to be what he liked most. It made him forget about the appeal human blood had on him and probably always will have, and with the safety that came with it they would be able to settle down in Hoquiam and live a next to human life for hopefully a few years.

"I do want him to drink bear, please believe me, but I don't want him to keep their heads and bring them home."

He snorted. "And I don't want to witness him beheading these creatures. It is grosser than it sounds, Esme."

Again she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it while giving him a sad smile. "I can imagine."

He heard her thoughts and saw the pictures that formed in her head, and so he knew that she could obviously _not_ imagine how gross it was.

"You forgot the sounds. And the way he turns its head until the neck breaks and all the tissue is properly severed."

Her face scrunched up while images she actually did not want to see flooded her mind, and he started nodding his head.

"Close," he praised, then smirked. "But it was a lot messier. Just imagine a-"

"_Edward!_" she gasped.

Instead of looking ashamed, he grinned and a low chuckle rumbled in his chest. He had officially grossed his mother out with only the image of a bear head, whereas Emmett had needed to take an actual head and bring it home to achieve just that. Now that was something to be proud of.

* * *

Carlisle sat in a wooden lawnchair on the porch, enjoying the little free time he had from work so he could finally spend some more time with his family again. He loved his job at the hospital, loved being able to improve other people's health and take care of their injuries so they would heal faster, even though that meant not being able to see his wife and children as much as he would want to.

Luckily he did not need to sleep, or else he would probably struggle a lot more with this handling of his time. He'd love to be home more, see his wife more often and be there for his children, but they needed the money to afford moving in case someone would slip or people would grow suspicious of them. Just like the humans surrounding him he needed money to be able to provide for his family. As soon as Emmett would gain more control, Esme wanted to find a teaching job and Rosalie had told him that she was looking forward to giving piano lessons or do a little tutoring. But for now he was glad that everything worked out so well and the newest addition to their little family was was well cared for.

With a little smile on his lips he sat there watching Rose and Emmett, who were currently playing a game of battledore and shuttlecock on the lawn.

He was so thankful that the bulky boy had 'stumbled' or rather 'bled' into their life, as now he could truly say that they had become a family. Of course he had not wanted anyone to suffer through a bear attack and the pain of the change, but Emmett had been dying when Rose had found him and they had needed to act quickly. So now he was glad that their decision seemed to have been the right one for all of them.

Rose and Edward never got along and their relationship was still more bumpy than smooth, but they seemed more at ease now and didn't mind each other's presence as much anymore. With the help of Emmett's buoyant nature there was a sense of harmony in the house that he hadn't experienced for two long years... it was like the boy had achieved some kind of truce between them.

It was the fourth newborn he took care of, and he really got the feeling that the job of taking care of them was getting easier with experience. Edward had been difficult, but he had just lost his parents and friends and was thrown into a completely different life with a very unique gift that made the process of adjusting extremely difficult for a young person like him. Esme had just come from an abusive relationship and had lost the only person that would have linked her to this world and given her the strength to go on. When her little boy died, she had lost all hope and the will to live.

Rose... oh Rose's newborn years had been the most trying, but he had never regretted changing her. It was difficult to put himself in the shoes of a young girl that had endured something that brutal and horrible, and it was difficult to still try to show that girl how much he cherished her throughout the continuing resentment she had shown him when she had tried so hard to make him suffer for the decision he had made concerning her future life.

Emmett was so different and the impact his presence had on them was remarkable.

He had fixed their difficult relationships, he had shown him that the decision to change someone did not have to be accompanied by guilt and self-loathe. That boy must have loved life more than anything, and being changed into a superior being that was basically unbreakable was just letting him enjoy life all the more. He was thrilled to be here, his eyes showed nothing but love and adoration whenever he looked at Rose, and he didn't seem to have any trouble accepting them as his new family. Overall, the best word to describe him was 'happy'.

Last week Esme had told him about the little mess their boy had caused with the severed bear head in the house, but he had to admit that he wasn't too concerned about that. His other two children had done crazy things, and this was nothing compared to what they had done. Emmett had already killed the bear to feed on it, and so keeping its head did not hurt anyone.

Sure, Esme had been appalled and was quite unhappy with the stains the bear blood had left, but this was nothing but a harmless, little mistake. Nobody got hurt except for the bear, but that certain type of animal made Emmett keep a firmer grip on his bloodlust and helped him regain his humanity. So a few stains inside the house and a few less bears roaming the forest were really nothing but a small price to pay for the security that came with his newly acquired self-control.

Then, two days ago, the same situation occurred and Esme had been extremely appalled once again. But he still did not see the problem, as Emmett had caused less of a mess, which showed that he understood what had bothered his mother most about the heads. Besides, he was only a child and he would make mistakes - they couldn't expect him to be 'perfect' when none of them had been during their newborn phase and even after that nobody was perfect. There just was no 'perfect' - neither in their nor in the human world. Everyone was different and that made Carlisle love them all the more - life never got boring.

Emmett had just found something he really liked and was excited about that, and so maybe the collecting of bear heads was only his way of expressing his joy about having found the right diet for himself.

A shriek, followed by a laugh, drew him from his musings and he looked up to see Emmett swinging his wife around like they were dancing.

This boy was by no means as disturbed, malicious or hard to handle as the majority of newborns often was - he was young, carefree and enjoyed life - it was beautiful to see.

Carlisle felt two arms wrap around his shoulders from behind, and then his wife's cheek leaned against his as she sighed contently. He reached up to caress her forearm, drawing a quiet purring sound from her.

"It's so peaceful here, isn't it?" she asked softly.

"This is a good place for us," he agreed while watching his children play around, then lifted one of Esme's hands up to his lips and kissed it.

After a short moment of silence, Esme whispered, "How safe are we, Carlisle? What do you think?"

"There aren't many rumours, love. People talk about what they know - Edward is a good student at school and Rosalie is staying home to help you with the housework. Nobody knows about Emmett, so right now we don't need to explain anything. Let's just enjoy the time we have and hope for the best," he told her, hoping he could alleviate her worries that way.

"I would never do anything else."

A slight frown appeared on his forehead as he detected something in her voice that did not quite match what she had just said. "But something is bothering you, Esme. Talk to me, let me help."

She straightened up, letting her hands run up his chest and over his shoulders until she withdrew them and took a step to the side. The physical contact was broken, but she pulled a chair out and took a seat next to her husband, who scooted sideways a little so he would be able to look her in the eye while they would talk.

"So?" he queried.

After some hesitation, she quietly admitted, "I'm concerned."

"That's what I figured, my darling. Tell me what's bothering you," he encouraged his wife with a little smile.

"It's Emmett," she whispered, glancing at her children who were still busy laughing and playing around and therefore were too fixated on each other to even notice their presence.

"What about him?" Carlisle asked, and he grabbed her hand to envelop it in his own. He feared for his family and hearing that his newborn son, who he loved since the very first moment he had laid eyes upon him, was maybe in some kind of danger made him apprehensive and tense.

"He isn't in any way acting aggressive towards us and I'm sure he recognises our authority-"

"Is that a problem for you?" he asked with a smirk. He couldn't help it - the tenseness from a moment ago vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye, and the carefreeness that pushed to the surface made him react like that.

"Let me finish, Carlisle," she reprimanded him softly before shifting in her seat to cross her legs. "He is developing a very nasty habit, and I want to stop it now before it might get out of hand."

_Oh..._ "Are we talking about bears?"

"Yes, we are," she confirmed.

"Oh, my sweet Esme... you know my thoughts about this. He is proud of himself, he found something that makes him happy without feeling that he's losing control. We need to encourage him."

She sighed. "Of course. I agree with you that the bear blood makes him calmer, more controlled and he seems more at ease than he did before. But I refuse to accept that he's using our house as a dump for bear heads, let alone encourage it."

He let out a laugh, his eyes twinkling as he did so, before he turned his head again to look in the beautiful, yet concerned eyes of his loving wife. "It happened only twice, love."

"Yes,_ twice_," she agreed, her lips a thin line. "I told him before that this is unacceptable, but still, he brought it home again."

"I'm sure he just wanted to show you how successful his hunt had been. He's just excited, Esme."

They didn't have any experiences with newborns who did not suffer because of this new kind of existence that had been forced upon them. They all had their crosses to bear, had losses to mourn or had to manage their sense of hate and self-loathing. None of them have had an easy transition or an easy end of their human lives. Their lives had ended way too soon, and without the chance of preparing themselves for it.

"The problem is that he brings them inside with the intention of keeping them. I love my baby with all my heart, but I refuse to let him soil the house, especially when I forbade him from bringing them home. I cannot allow that and I don't see how I can get him to understand."

"He's still in the process of adjusting. We cannot rush it, it'll take time."

She tilted her head to the side and gave him a look that clearly showed she was not happy with him. "Carlisle, I have the feeling that you're not listening to me."

He reached out and took her hand in his again, letting his other one rub over the back of her hand. "Of course I'm listening to you, don't you ever doubt that. But I have my doubts that he's developing a problem. Tell him what he wants to hear - tell him that you are amazed that he caught a bear that big, and then he'll stop bringing them home. He just wants you to see. You're his new mother and all he wants is to please you. He still needs to get to know us just like we need to get to know him. He's trying so hard... that's a good sign, love."

"I am overjoyed to have him in our lives and that he accepts us as his new parents, but I really cannot tolerate him soiling the house with bear heads," she almost whined while saying the last part.

"It happened when Edward took him hunting, didn't it? Maybe we need to have a word with him."

"Carlisle," Esme said and her eyes darkened slightly while she placed her hands on her hips. "Don't you dare."

"I'm not going to discipline him!" he told her, holding his hands up in front of him in a placating manner. "I just think that maybe he can help when it comes to understanding why exactly the boy wants to keep the heads and what he plans on doing with them. Besides, Emmett is also his responsibility when he takes him hunting and so I think he should try and keep him from bringing heads home. If Emmett is truly developing a problem, that is."

"Darling, I know my children, and our son is so very fond of bears that I am sure we can start calling it a problem," she let him know.

He chuckled, then looked back at Rose and Emmett running around. "And I have the feeling that we have never gone so long without _a problem_."

She scooted closer to him, then enveloped one of his arms in hers and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I know what you mean. So much has changed in such a short time - everything changed for the better. I have never seen Rose this happy before."

"Me neither. And even Edward seems to be more open to family activities than he used to," Carlisle replied, then noticed out of the corner of his eye that his first-born was just coming home from school.

Edward shot his father an annoyed look, then his eyes suddenly widened and he ducked his head as the newborn stopped playing with his wife, snapped his head around and then dashed over to him with the speed of a cannonball to greet him.

"Don't!" Edward called, holding a hand out to make him stop and keep him far away from himself, but it only served to make a huge grin appear on Emmett's face.

Rose let out a laugh as she watched her husband hug their brother and she slowly approached her parents on the terrace.

"Rosie, you could have held him back," Esme said with a slight hint of reproval.

Shrugging her shoulders, she leaned with her hip against the table. "Yes, but why should I? It's fun to see Edward cowering on the ground."

Esme looked like she did not approve of her phrasing.

But Rose let out a snort. "He is acting as though Emmett wanted to rip him apart and keep his head."

"That is not funny, Rosalie."

Rose almost groaned. "Oh, don't be like that, mother. I wasn't being serious and you know that Emmett is the sweetest person you could ever meet."

"He is just excited that Edward is home, Esme. There is no harm done, he just likes to greet him in his own special way," Carlisle told his wife while he listened to the strangled cries of his eldest son who was currently having trouble freeing himself from the loving headlock his brother was holding him in.

"Emmy, love, that's enough," Esme called, feeling quite sorry for her poor boy for having to endure his brother's never ending playfulness.

Em looked up, then let go of Edward before giving him a brotherly shove that almost send him flying into the blooming rose bushes. He laughed, then ran over to them where he came to a halt next to his mate.

"Edward's home," he said while putting an arm around Rose's waist.

"Yes," she replied with a laugh. Everyone had seen him come home, after all.

"Come here, son, sit with us," Carlisle called over to Edward after the boy had brushed some dirt off the front of his shirt and straightened out the fabric, because Emmett had wrinkled it while greeting him.

"I'll be upstairs if you need me," was all he said and it made Carlisle sigh as he watched his son disappear inside the house.

* * *

A few days passed and Carlisle was back to spending most of his time working at the hospital again to take care of his patients. But he had taken Emmett hunting, of course, and even though they had only found deer to feed on, he did not have the feeling that the boy was suddenly completely obsessing over bears. Emmett still didn't like deer all that much, but he had drained the animal like a good boy and had felt full and content afterwards.

So it was quite a surprise when a week later Rose and Esme came home from a little shopping trip one afternoon and found that the boys must have been hunting once again.

A scream left Esme's lips when she entered the living room and immediately she stumbled back in shock, tumbling into Rose who had to take a step back and steady her mother so they both wouldn't fall over.

Esme had no words for what she was seeing, even though she was trying to find a few appropriate ones, of course. Her mouth just opened and closed like a fish out of water, and her eyes were huge and looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets any second now.

Even Rose needed a moment as this was probably one of the most shocking things she had seen in a long time. A very long time.

They didn't even need to guess who was the one who brought this home, prepared it and the hung it on the wall, as this looked a lot like it was Emmett's doing. Rose would have loved to blame Edward for it, but despite his obvious craziness he wasn't crazy enough to do this.

This was a newborn kind of crazy.

An abnormally ugly bear head had been nailed to a wooden board and then hung on the wall in the living room. The wallpaper underneath was soaking up most of the blood, which was good... or bad... or both. Still, a good amount of the dark liquid had made it all the way down to the floor and had seeped into several cracks in between the wooden floor boards. A few bloody hand prints were decorating the area on the wall around this monstrosity and both women hoped dearly that they were not intentional.

The room stank of musty bear and cold blood, and the sweet, persistent smell of death hung in the air as the thing was already beginning to decay due to the unusually warm temperatures.

Rose stepped past Esme to get a better look at the thing, but she still kept her fingers wrapped around her mother's elbow in order to steady and comfort her. Squinting up at the head, she slowly started shaking her head while taking in all the _fine_ details.

Em obviously hadn't been careful with the creature, and Rosalie felt sorry for the poor thing, because it had been at the wrong place at the wrong time and found such a sad end to its life. The head looked like Em had tried to rip it apart right in the middle, but then thought better of it and smashed it back together. The most interesting part about this, however, was the way he had nailed it to the board. Two shiny nail heads were poking out of the eye sockets, and the gooey trails on its facial fur and its muzzle let them know that he had not tried to remove the eyeballs before he set to work. The mouth was opened wide and Em had most definitely broken its jaw joints, because the lower jaw and the long tongue were featuring another nail to keep them fixed to the board.

Rose felt so incredibly bad for her poor husband. He had worked on this, but still had not grasped that it was gross and he could have saved himself the effort and the time preparing the thing to hang it on the wall.

"_E-_"

Oh, Esme had found her voice again and was now trying to say something.

"_E-,_" she tried again, then took a deep breath, which she regretted a little because of the stench, before shouting, "_Emmett! Edward!_"

It sounded like thunder in their little home, and Rosalie flinched.

Only one door opened on the upper floor, and it was only one pair of feet that jogged down the stairs. Emmett came into the room a moment later, a big smile on his face like Christmas had come early.

"So?" he asked and motioned towards his beautiful handicraft hanging on the opposite wall. He nodded at his mother and his wife, his eyes twinkling with joy that his surprise was such a success, because they looked absolutely speechless.

"I know, I know," he quickly said and held both his hands up before they could utter a single word. "It's not the biggest one, but it was so feisty and aggressive - it has really earned a place here in the living room. I wanted to hang it over the fireplace, but it somehow wouldn't stay up." He distorted his mouth when he glanced in the direction of their fireplace.

Esme slowly turned her head to look at it, already dreading what she would see there, and she gasped loudly, holding onto Rose's shoulder. She had absolutely no idea what the boy had done to the wall, but there was a huge hole and the wallpaper around it was hanging off the wall in shreds.

"We can fix it," Rose whispered to her, giving her a pleading look so she wouldn't yell. "I'm sure we can fix it somehow, Esme. Please."

As if in a trance, Esme slowly started nodding her head.

She looked back at the gross thing her son had tinkered together, and a little whimper escaped her mouth.

"I'll catch a bigger one next time," Emmett promised nervously as he heard the noise, feeling somewhat embarrassed that she was disappointed with this small bear. But it was the only one he had managed to find! Not every day was a good bear day!

"I don't think so," Esme replied, blinking her eyes at him rapidly like it would help keeping the irritation at bay. "I think you should stop hunting bears for good and go for something different." Her fingers curled and uncurled into a fist, before she just pressed one of her fists to her lips so she wouldn't say something she didn't mean or whimper some more because she felt so sad that her living room was ruined.

His face scrunched up in confusion. "But... bears are the best," he said.

"That might be, but I told you not to bring them home and now look at that."

"I hung it up there so it wouldn't take up space. You can put flowers on the sideboards and use the sink in the kitchen again. I won't put anything in there, Momma. I promise."

Oh dear... why was this boy only ever listening to half of the things she was telling him? It was wonderful that he had understood that she didn't want a bear head in the sink as it would make it impossible to use it when it was lying in there, but that had obviously made him forget about what she had told him before that... not to bring them home in the first place as they would soil the house.

"Honey...," she asked with a pained expression on her face, "did you not notice that it ruined the wall and the floor? It's leaking, Emmett."

Emmett frowned, then walked over to the trophy hanging on the wall and eyed the bloody streak underneath. He reached out and ran his finger through it, then looked at the dark red liquid covering his finger tip. He lifted his finger up to his mouth and sucked the blood off.

He was standing with his back to Esme and Rose, and they could only guess what he was doing as he lifted his hand up to his face and a moment later they heard a small popping sound.

"Still good," he said when he turned around and smiled at his mother. His finger was clean again.

Esme bit down on her lips, then took a deep breath - again regretting it the moment the stench crept into her nose. "Edward-"

"Oh, he's seen it already, don't worry," Emmett said with a wave of his hand, then gave her a little smile, still hoping she would like it despite its size. Then he turned back around and looked at the blood with hungry eyes.

He placed his hands on either side of the blood trail and suddenly bent forward.

Esme cursed her luck... and her husband. Next time they would move, she would go to work and he could be a stay-at-home dad as right now she was fed up and needed a break. The boy was just as much his responsibility as it was hers, so he better start acting like it.

She watched Emmett for a moment longer, before she just couldn't take it anymore and needed to leave.

"You keep him from licking the wall while I go talk to your brother," she whispered fiercely to Rose before storming off in the direction of the stairs.

She was upstairs in the blink of an eye and quickly found herself standing in front of her son's room, knocking on the door impatiently. "Edward? Edward! You have some explaning to do, young man!"

She heard wooden chair legs scratching the hardwood floor, then heavy footsteps heading for the door before it was being opened, revealing Edward with darkened eyes and clenched jaw.

"What happened to my living room?" she demanded, her hands on her hips.

"Emmett happened to your living room," he retorted.

She huffed. "Why didn't you keep him from bringing this thing inside? The entire room is a mess. There is a hole in my wall, Edward. A _hole_. Right above the fireplace."

"Apparently nobody in this house is listening to me! I told you countless times that he doesn't listen to a word I say!" he practically shouted in her face, his eyes blazing.

"Edward," she warned. She was stressed out enough as it was, and she did not want to do something that she would regret later.

He averted his eyes.

Esme took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, realising how her aggravation was rubbing off on her son. She had no intention of arguing with him, and she did not want to make him feel bad. "What now, hm?" she queried, her voice softer than before.

He carefully glanced up at her. "Carlisle said he'd stop if you tell him how impressed you are with the stupid thing."

Tilting her head to the side, she asked. "Do you think it'll work?" She did not sound convinced.

He sighed, then shook his head slowly while shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know, newborns don't make any sense."

"This has to stop, this really has to stop," she muttered and rubbed a hand over her forehead.

They both were silent for a moment, until Esme cleared her throat and looked at her son as standing here wasn't helping anyone.

"Come," she said, "help me clean it up."

Nodding his head, he stepped out of his room even though he felt like going back inside and bolting the door so he could wait in there until all this was over. It wasn't fair that he always had to clean up the mess this moronic newborn was causing, but Carlisle would not be impressed if he refused to help because then Esme would have to clean it up on her own.

Together they walked down the hall and descended the stairs, simultaniously scrunching up their noses as they got closer to the living room and the less than appealing rotten bear smell.

Rose looked up at them when they entered, giving them a pleading look so they would leave her Em alone. He really did not know any better, it wasn't his fault...

The boy's face was smeared with blood as he had been struggling against his wife so he could continue 'cleaning' the wallpaper for his mother, as he had called it. He just savoured the taste, she knew that, and therefore it had been a little difficult to pull him away from the wall in order to keep him from following through with it. But distracting him by telling him about all the fun things they could do upstairs in their room had actually worked quite well. He looked excited to head upstairs.

When neither Esme nor Edward said anything, Rose breathed a sigh of relief and let Emmett pull her from the room.

"Rosalie," Esme called after her daughter who had just passed her.

"Yes, I'll make sure he bathes his face, Esme!"

Even though Rose wasn't able to see it, Esme nodded her head, before turning to look at Edward who just scrunched up his face before hanging his head.

"Could you-" "I'll take it outside," he replied, already knowing what she was going to ask him to do.

He walked around the sofa, then got on his tip toes to reach the head on the wall. After he managed to grab the sides of the wooden board with his hands he yanked it off the wall, showering the front of his shirt with plaster dust.

"That idiot...," he muttered angrily, but gave his mother a forced smile when he turned around and saw her gaping at the spot where the head had just been.

Two walls ruined.

Not willing to stand around much longer with his brother's stinky creation in hand, Edward walked into the foyer with quick steps and awkwardly opened the front door with two fingers, so he would neither stain the door nor himself.

He made his way into their back yard and glared down at the bear who's new, shiny metal eyes twinkled in the faint moonlight that broke through the blanket of clouds.

_Please let this be the last time..._

With a huff - because he had the feeling that newborn Em would never stop - he took the board in one hand and threw it like a flying disk into the air. It spun with tremendous speed, flew over the tree tops and further away until Edward couldn't see it anymore.

He didn't even wait for the sound of it hitting something, just walked back to the front door and stepped inside to help his mother trying to fix their once cosy living room.

* * *

**And that was chapter three... there really wasn't that much Em in it which confuses me quite a bit, hm. But in the next chapter, _oh my,_ he will be such a good boy... you won't believe it, haha!  
**

******Review and let me know what you think, guys! Don't be so shy, tzk :D**


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